Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

Middle English cokewald, from Anglo-Norman *cucuald, from cucu, the cuckoo, from Vulgar Latin *cuccūlus, from Latin cucūlus.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Derived from Old French cucuault (from cucu, the Cuckoo bird, some varieties of which lay their eggs in another’s nest). Appears in Middle English in noun form circa 1250 as cokewald. First known use of the verb form is 1589.

Examples

The term "cuckold" comes from the Middle English cokewold and refers to a cuckoo hen who lays her eggs in another's nest.

He was able to hurt none but himself; by transferring the same ridicule from one to another, he destroyed its efficacy; for by showing that what he had said of one he was ready to say of another, he reduced himself to the insignificance of his own magpie, who, from his cage, calls cuckold at a venture.